Paperback, 282 pages
English language
Published Dec. 16, 1989 by Vintage.
Si es que este libro no envejece. Sigue siendo una introducción (o material intermedio) maravillosa a la perspectiva antropológica sobre fenómenos sociales, históricos y económicos.
El capítulo final sobre la contracultura, escrito en los 70, tiene ahora más significado aún.
This book was so much fun. It provides rational explanations for seemingly bizarre behaviors, and the analysis is as fun as the behavior. The witch hunts were a way to distract the citizenry from the corruption of the upper class and the church. The Yammammo- well, they are always good for a laugh. And there is much to learn about food taboos. Perhaps the most difficult to wrap my head around is the female infanticide, but it certainly gave me plenty to think about. A fabulous and thought-provoking read.
The first couple of chapters were mild-blowingly good. I thought Harris' explanations of foods that are taboo or vaunted and how those roles are not only logical, but dictated by the socioenvironmental setting in which they originate fascinating. He treats cultural norms as almost the results of Darwinian processes, which is a fascinating and really revolutionary approach. I was awed both by his treatment of rules that are second nature to me, like Jewish dietary laws, as well as those that were quite foreign. Harris was a breath of fresh air to the "anthropology" I was exposed to in undergrad that tried to impress upon us that there is no way to understand other cultures and that trying to do so is cultural appropriation in and of itself.
However, the second half of the book fell flat. Perhaps it's because, as a Jew, I don't share Harris' fascination with Jesus …
The first couple of chapters were mild-blowingly good. I thought Harris' explanations of foods that are taboo or vaunted and how those roles are not only logical, but dictated by the socioenvironmental setting in which they originate fascinating. He treats cultural norms as almost the results of Darwinian processes, which is a fascinating and really revolutionary approach. I was awed both by his treatment of rules that are second nature to me, like Jewish dietary laws, as well as those that were quite foreign. Harris was a breath of fresh air to the "anthropology" I was exposed to in undergrad that tried to impress upon us that there is no way to understand other cultures and that trying to do so is cultural appropriation in and of itself.
However, the second half of the book fell flat. Perhaps it's because, as a Jew, I don't share Harris' fascination with Jesus (so much Jesus. Three chapters of Jesus. It was SO tedious) or because Harris' treatise on New England witches has really become conventional wisdom. Either way, I finished this book mostly through a sice of obligation.
Cows are inefficiently raised and devoured in the United States, while in India, people would rather go hungry than eat cow flesh. In the Jewish and Moslem tradition, pigs are unclean and cannot be consumed; while in others, gargantuan pig feasts are more holy than the Thanksgiving turkey. Is this just part of the inexplicable side of human nature, or are there understandable reasons for these cultural curiosities? Harris shows that these bizarre displays of cultural variety play an important and understandable role in the cultures’ environments.
